Scenario For New Drivers

I am not new, been driving for company for over a year and run trucks around farm country for 30. If it was me, 1st call the boss. If he says we gotta get the trailer if at all possible and no way to move the dumpster, I would crank trailer up so it is at heights of 5th wheel so I will not slide trailer back further when backing under then while checking for clearance get under trailer and use my air bags in truck to raise jacks off the ground then slowly pull trailer out. Should not have clearance issues as long as not greater than 90 degrees but check anyway. If I was closer to home I would get a tractor or pickup and chain and drag dumpster ahead.

This is my life every time I go to the rail yard. I wouldn't attempt to hook it. If there's no yard dog available, I'm Bob tailing back even if it's against dispatches orders. I'll take a write up over a preventable.

 If I had a sliding 5th wheel, I would slide it all the way to the rear and see if I could hook on an angle.

You can't move the fifth wheel without hooking it. Hooking at an angle is risky because you can't really see anything, even in a daycab. It's best to wait for somebody too move the dumpster or pull the trailer out for you.

Yeah, but if you damage the dumpster, ground or the back of your truck should your chain snap and fly back at you. you get to have a nice meeting with safety.

That is precisely why my 1st move was to call dispatch to report situation and ask for advice. I was just thinking about it from a problem solving view.

Before chaining and dragging it, It would also depend on what was in the dumpster to judge the weight. If it had light material and a lot of air space, it wouldn't be heavy enough to cause any damage or break chain. If it was packed full or loaded with heavy materials, I would scratch the whole idea

You can't move the fifth wheel without hooking it.

If it was a drop and hook , you could use your other trailer to move 5th wheel. Also, I wasnt sure if 5th wheel could be moved with a pry bar if necessary

I’m not in the trade yet so there are many things I dont know. I just like the challenge of trying to figure stuff like this out

Plus I just learned a few more things

New guy here..... Call dispatch first off. I think dragging the dumpster out of the way would work but risky if the chain snapped or damaged the ground. I think coming in at an angle would work but it would be harder as I would think there would be limited vision. I would try to back under part way and raise the 5th wheel and try to move the trailer a little to get it angled. Once it is angled, back all the way under, hook and go. Not sure if it would work or not. Just my thought

Yes the trailer is empty.

I'll post in a couple hours what he ended up doing, as well as what I would if my idea differed.

Experienced drivers feel free to jump in with your solutions

Gonna depend on how close the trailer is to the wall if I'm looking at it right. I think you could hook it but you're going to have to make an immediate hard right so the nose of the trailer clears the dumpster. Which may or may not leave room for the corner of Icc bumper to clear the wall .

One thing the pic doesn't show is the position of the tandems. If they are slid forward enough, the tail swing alone would prevent one from hooking the trailer and pulling away at a right angle without the tail striking the building on the way out, as Bird-One pointed out.

That said: assuming tail swing isn't a problem, and after making sure that debris on the ground won't pop my tires, I'd totally back under that thing at an angle and pull it out just enough to drop it and then re-back under it to pull away at a safe angle. With plenty of proper GOALS of course to not only make sure I'm aligned correctly, but also to make sure my own flap arms won't hit the wall.

I have to deal with similar situations often with empty trailers behind Walmart stores. The key is in assessing the situation thoroughly before and during any moves.

I'd hook it from the side, at the least amount of angle possible. Hook up the air lines, then release the brakes. Move the nose out to clear the dumpster, then should be okay to drop it again and re-hook it at a straight back.

As Turtle pointed out, a key thing to check beforehand would be the tandems. Hopefully all the way back, or it's at a risk of damaging the building and/or the trailer.

Alright so the deal with this was it was an empty reefer trailer sent to Cedar Rapids after that nasty storm came through last week. Due to widespread power outages we sent easily a dozen empty trailers to hard hit areas so they could try to save as much product as possible. This trailer was no longer needed there due to power being back up. The trailer the driver originally had was left at a store on the other side of town with half a trailer full of ice. He bobtailed over so sliding his 5th wheel wasn't an option. He has 6 years driving experience but only 1 of it involved hooking different trailers otherwise he had the same truck and trailer every day.

What this driver did was call dispatch, give them an earful about sending him somewhere to do something that isnt possible and got himself worked up over something they had no way of knowing about. After hanging up with them he gave me a call as he bobtailed home 130 miles.

I would first take pictures of it and get ahold of dispatch to inform them. I'm not one to get dispatch involved in every decision I make but company policy is to inform them of anything at the store level that prevents us from safely doing our job. The issue of a rolloff being left that close to the front would be addressed with the store manager because most often someone instructs the trash company where to place it. I would let dispatch know I'm going to attempt to hook it and I'll give them a call back shortly if it isnt possible. *DISCLAIMER! DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND ALWAYS FOLLOW COMPANY POLICY* I would back in at more than a 45 degree angle and stop just before my 5th wheel makes contact with the edge of trailer. You need to assess where your frame/drives are in relation to your landing gear and where they'll be once you're connected. I like the tape measure idea but still G.O.A.L to double check. Adjust the angle as needed. If you raise the outer edge of the trailer with the 5th wheel you could tip the trailer over especially if its loaded, or push it closer to the wall making it worse. I'd dump my air bags (if applicable) and crank the trailer up until it's completely clear. Most of our drivers will leave the landing gear a couple inches off the ground then dump airbags before pulling out (company policy) to make hooking up easier, so I'd definitely need to crank it. Back up SLOWLY! AND G.O.A.L. to make sure you're clear of all obstacles including the landing gear and wall while being lined up PERFECTLY with the kingpin. High hooking will send the corner of the trailer into your sleeper. If my 5th wheel is under the skid plate and I have enough space to back up more I would inflate my air bags and crank landing gear up so that the trailer is resting on the 5th wheel then connect as normal. Bird brought up a good point about the front clearing the dumpster and the bumper clearing the curb as well. There's a million things to be mindful of in this situation. It's hard to completely judge the available space off the pic but I don't think he'd have enough space due to the ledge on the bottom of the wall sticking out about a foot and a half. Personally I wouldn't even consider doing anything to the dumpster. Too many things can go wrong and it isnt mine. There's not really a right or wrong answer. It all comes down to what you feel most comfortable with. I like to try and solve problems and do what others say isnt possible so I'd atleast give it a shot. I don't fault the other driver for not attempting it. However, I do fault him for not handling the phone call professionally (from what he claims he told them).

Would anybody in this situation be willing to intentionally lower the kingpin onto the frame of the tractor and pull it out a couple feet to hit it square on? I personally think that's a pretty risky move and the pros don't outweigh the cons if it doesnt go as planned (like dropping the trailer!)